Palestinian leaders from both Fatah and Hamas argue that terrorism -- including ‎suicide terror against Israel, which they call “resistance” or “armed struggle” -- is a ‎legitimate political tool. PA leaders quote UN resolution 3236, which "recognizes the ‎right of the Palestinian people to regain its rights by all means." The PA interprets "all ‎means" as including violence against civilians. However, the PA ignores the ‎continuation of the resolution, which states that the use of "all means" should be "in ‎accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations," ‎which prohibits targeting civilians, even in war. ‎

The PA not only legitimizes its use of violence against Israel, it employs a strategy that ‎combines violence with diplomacy, timing it to achieve optimum political impact. ‎
Fatah Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi explained this policy on Ma’an TV:‎

‎“In the Fatah political program of the Sixth Conference [in 2009]… it says ‎liberation of the lands and resisting the occupation through all means of ‎resistance. We haven’t omitted any type of resistance. However, we know ‎that for each method of resistance there is a right time and circumstances, ‎which are not right for another method. Since we are interested in a [political] ‎achievement, in a state, freedom, and independence for the Palestinian people, ‎we know what the interests and basic principles of the Palestinian people ‎are. Hence, we want to realize its interests, and not to concede our basic ‎principles. These might be temporary interests or achievements until conditions ‎are ripe to end all other issues.”‎ ‎[Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, Feb. 11, 2015]‎

Muhammad Dahlan, a former Fatah MP, described it as follows:‎

‎“This is our right, our legal right (i.e., referring to the use of violence). The ‎international community affirms it for us. But it is the responsibility of the ‎leadership to use it when it wants, in the proper place and at the proper time. We ‎cannot leave in the hands of youth who use their own judgment. This is the ‎difference between [PA] using this right and just anyone using it.”

[Official Palestinian Authority ‎TV, July 22, 2009]‎

‎Click to view
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Since the primary motivation for Palestinian terror is the advancement of political goals, ‎the PA employs a strategy of alternating violence and negotiations. They often refer to ‎violence as “seeding,” meaning that terror is used to inflict suffering and fear on Israeli ‎society and the international community, after which the terror is stopped temporarily, ‎in order to let diplomacy “reap” the fruits of the terror. The ongoing threats of renewed ‎terror are seen by Palestinians as a primary motivation for Israeli leaders to give in to ‎Palestinian demands.‎
Fatah spokesman Ahmad Assaf explained:‎

‎"Fatah… [is] the only movement that successfully employed all types of ‎resistance in order to achieve the goal… Fatah did not say that its only option ‎was armed struggle. We always said, 'the rifle sows and diplomacy reaps.'... The ‎rifle always had one target, and it was a political target: achieving the ‎Palestinian people's goals of freedom and independence. That is why we went ‎down two parallel paths: armed resistance and political activity.”‎

‎[Official Palestinian Authority TV, Dec. 31, 2012]‎

Similary, Diab Al-Luh, member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council explained:‎

‎“We have learned in the struggle that there is a stage of planting and cultivation. ‎The struggle of the rifle seeds and the diplomatic struggle reaps. We, the ‎Palestinians, have planted in the many years of our struggle, our Martyrs (Shahids), our wounded and our brave prisoners, who have planted productive ‎seeds.” [Official PA TV, Dec. 5, 2004]‎

Mahmoud Abbas himself has also stated the importance of timing violence properly. ‎The criterion he stressed was the potential to be successful:‎

‎“Now we are against armed conflict because we are unable. In the future ‎stages, things may be different. I was honored to be the one to shoot the first ‎bullet in 1965 [Fatah terror against Israel began in 1965], and having taught ‎resistance to many in this area and around the world, defining it and when it is ‎beneficial and when it is not.” [Al-Dustur (Jordan), Feb. 28, 2008]‎

Thus, the use of Palestinian terrorism is determined by its profitability and the PA’s ‎capabilities. Former Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei (Abu Alaa), when asked if the ‎Palestinians should be using armed “resistance,” stated: "I see and analyze. And if it ‎‎[resistance] gives me [benefit] without costing me, yes." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 5, ‎‎2010]‎

Palestinians across the political spectrum view “armed resistance” as a legitimate ‎political tool. An article in the official PA daily described Yasser Arafat as the champion ‎of this model, and the “expert on the timing of seeding the [armed] struggle and reaping ‎diplomacy.” [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 9, 2006] Hamas has also supported the strategy ‎of alternating violence with diplomacy: “Praise to Allah, we [Hamas] have demonstrated ‎glowing success in combining diplomacy and resistance.” [Hamas representative ‎Ayman Taha, Al-Rissala, May 17, 2007]

The following section documents statements and attitudes on the violence-‎diplomacy strategy, across the Palestinian political sphere:‎

Official PA TV host: “I’m returning with you, [Fatah Movement Spokesman] Dr. Osama Al-Qawasmi, to the history of Yasser Arafat.... At the time of the self-sacrificing operations and armed struggle, Yasser Arafat and the Fatah Movement were at the head of the self-sacrificing operations that dealt with military activity on the ground. And when the time for policy came, Yasser Arafat excelled in this path as well, and it may be that he achieved more from it than was achieved in the military activity. [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas is continuing the diplomatic political activity, embarrassing Israel in the halls of the UN, and achieving the [fitting] status for Palestine.”

Fatah Movement Spokesman and Fatah Revolutionary Council member Osama Al-Qawasmi: “Certainly, when Fatah was established at the beginning of January 1965 relying on armed struggle, it did [not] think that armed struggle was the goal, but rather that the rifle was a means, and that this is a legitimate right for all of the peoples who are bowing under occupation. There was a disagreement in the [Fatah] Central Committee... President Mahmoud Abbas supported armed struggle because they wanted to let the world hear the complaint of the Palestinian people through the rifle, bomb, and battles… The wars have changed. Today we rely on the popular resistance and building the institutions, [but] we have not given up the option of the rifle at all, but because we have a goal – and the means need to serve the political goal – we rely on the popular resistance, national unity, strengthening of the Palestinian people’s resolve, and building of the institutions..."

Excerpt of an op-ed by Muwaffaq Mattar, Fatah Revolutionary Council member and regular columnist for the official PA daily, written in response to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ condemnation of a terror attack committed on the Temple Mount on July 14, 2017, in which 2 Israeli border policemen were murdered

"I understand those who believe in the path of peaceful popular resistance and negotiations in order to achieve peace, and who think that there is no benefit in armed activity – not only in the current circumstances, but also in any circumstances in the future. I think that armed operations are only ‘individual initiatives’ of young Palestinians who were overcome by enthusiasm. However, I recognize that the PLO, the legitimate and sole representative [of the Palestinian people], determines the methods, ways, and means of the struggle, and includes them within its political fundamentals. We believe with a firm faith that the PLO has chosen the path of diplomatic and political activity in the international forums so as to create a new legal status for Palestine in international law and establish it as a country on the world map. Therefore, we must analyze the aspects of each armed operation in order to know to what extent it is consistent with these fundamentals or contradicts them.”
Click "full article" for a longer excerpt

Headline: “Al-Aloul: The popular resistance in all of its modes is Fatah and the leadership’s choice”
“Fatah Movement Deputy Chairman Mahmoud Al-Aloul emphasized that the need for the continuation of the resistance in order to curb the Israeli occupations’ crimes and plans is the choice of Fatah and the political leadership. In an interview with Radio Mawtini yesterday [Feb. 18, 2017], Al-Aloul called to develop the popular resistance in other directions, such as construction in villages in regions that are exposed to the danger of settlement, and a broader entry into other fields, such as an economic boycott of Israeli occupation products. Al-Aloul noted that large territories of the Palestinian lands that were taken over have been returned, and that the racist separation fence has been pushed back through legal methods of popular resistance.
He added that the popular resistance in all of its modes (i.e., including violence – Ed.) is a legitimate right of occupied peoples against their occupiers, and noted the efforts to develop it in order to protect the future of the Palestinian people and its national rights.”
The terms "all means," "peaceful uprising,” and “popular resistance" are ‎often used by PA leaders to refer to events that include violence and deadly terror ‎against Israeli civilians such as rock-throwing, stabbings and even shootings. See ‎Mahmoud Abbas' reference to murderous terror as "peaceful" during the 2015-2016 ‎terror wave (“The Knife Intifada”), which included numerous stabbings, shootings and car ramming attacks in which 40 people were killed (36 Israelis, 1 Palestinian, 2 Americans and 1 Eritrean) and hundreds wounded.

Fatah Central Committee member and Commissioner of Information, Culture, and Indoctrination and Chairman of the PA-supported Yasser Arafat Foundation Nasser Al-Qidwa: "If the Palestinian people does not succeed in realizing its national independence in its [sovereign] state through a political agreement... it will attempt to realize and implement these rights through other means. And then we will be in a period of time that is likely to be long and which will be characterized by a Palestinian struggle, and which will also be characterized by suffering and confrontation that is likely to be a bloody confrontation for a certain period of time. But in the end the result will be determined in favor of the Palestinian people. This is the rationale of the historical [process], and the colonialists' narrative is a known narrative, which there is no need to get into now. But I have no doubt of the decisive and historical victory of our people, and the absolute realization of the nation of the Palestinian people in its state.”

Headline: "Palestinian and international responses condemn the 'Settlement Regularization Law,' and calls to turn to the International Criminal Court"
"Fatah Central Committee member Dr. Nasser Al-Qidwa said that the Palestinian response to the Israeli law regarding settlement (i.e., the Regularization Law) that was recently ratified by the Israeli Parliament, needs to be through a comprehensive confrontation against the settlement colonialism. [This must be] a confrontation that will begin with the mobilization of the Palestinian masses in order to oppose settlement on the ground by boycotting work in the settlements, demonstrations, civil disobedience, boycotting settlement products, and all forms of struggle activity (i.e., including violence) on the ground, and afterwards to use the international tools at our disposal, such as the previous [UN] Security Council resolutions and the rulings of the [UN] International Court of Justice.”Regularization Law - intended to validate and finalize registration of land in Judea and Samaria with the Civil Administration Authority for Government and Abandoned Property in cases where any private claimant makes claims to lands that were thought to be government land after communities have already been built on the land in good faith - i.e., without the knowledge that the land was privately-owned - or with government support. The law will do so by transferring use of the land to the community in question providing a mechanism to compensate claimants to ownership of the land if their claims are validated. Click "full article" for more information.

Headline: “Fatah: The struggle against the regulation of the settlements will be carried out through our unity and the consolidation of a comprehensive national plan"

"Head of the Information Committee of the [Fatah] Mobilization and Organization Commission Munir Al-Jaghoub said that the struggle against the racist Israeli occupation’s arrogance and the resistance to its settlement laws will only be carried out through comprehensive national unity and joint Palestinian activity of all the national and Islamic Palestinian [factions] and the civil society institutions. This is through all the legal ways and means of struggle, by resistance in all of its forms (i.e., including violence).
Al-Jaghoub emphasized that the Fatah Movement and the Palestinian people will not continue to be silent and stand aloof in order to [eventually] receive a state that looks like a leopard's fur and is divided by settlements, bypass roads, and the racist separation wall."

Regularization Law - intended to validate and finalize registration of land in Judea and Samaria with the Civil Administration Authority for Government and Abandoned Property in cases where any private claimant makes claims to lands that were thought to be government land after communities have already been built on the land in good faith - i.e., without the knowledge that the land was privately-owned and with government support. The law will do so by transferring use of the land to the community in question providing a mechanism to compensate claimants to ownership of the land if their claims are validated. The law is intended to provide protection for Israeli towns in the West Bank established and built with Israeli government support from later claims of ownership by private individuals, similarly to existing laws in Israel in regard to property claims made for land on which government sanctioned communities have already been built. Cu

Headline: "Dalal Salameh: The Seventh General [Fatah] Conference constituted a turning point in the history of the Fatah Movement"Q.: "What is the message that you are conveying to the Fatah Movement members in the homeland and the diaspora?"Fatah Central Committee member Dalal Salameh: "On this [anniversary of] the Launch (Intilaqa) we are emphasizing that the accumulation of our political activity is a positive matter, as the world is drawing very close to us in its support of our just rights and legal demands, and we have drawn close to it by adopting the strategy of popular resistance ‎(term here refers to events that include violence against Israeli civilians such as rock-‎throwing, stabbings, and even shootings -Ed.)‎ and drawn close to its conception of the struggle, and it understands that our struggle is legitimate in every form (i.e., including violence)."

Intilaqa - "the Launch" refers to the beginning of Fatah on Jan. 1, 1965, when it carried out its first terror attack against Israel, attempting to blow up Israel's National Water Carrier

The terms "all means," "peaceful uprising,” and “popular uprising/resistance " are ‎often used by PA leaders to refer to events that include violence and deadly terror ‎against Israeli civilians such as rock-throwing, stabbings and even shootings. See ‎Mahmoud Abbas' referenceto murderous terror as "peaceful" during the 2015-2016 ‎terror wave (“The Knife Intifada”), which included numerous stabbings, shootings and car ramming attacks in which 40 people were killed (36 Israelis, 1 Palestinian, 2 Americans and 1 Eritrean) and hundreds wounded.

"Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) political bureau member Khalida Jarrar… said during the program The Difficult Questions with colleague [Director of the Ma’an independent Palestinian news agency] Dr. Nasser Al-Lahham: …'As long as there is an occupation, the resistance in all its forms (i.e., including violence) is legal. However, the resistance is conditional on the concrete circumstances, and at times one form [of resistance] trumps another. For example, the first Intifada (i.e., Palestinian wave of violence and terror against Israel, 1987-1993) was characterized by popular resistance ‎(term here refers to events that include violence against Israeli civilians such as rock-‎throwing, stabbings, and even shootings -Ed.) and included boycotting, resistance of rocks, and civil disobedience. On the other hand, the second Intifada – the Al-Aqsa Intifada (i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005) – had a military character. At every stage a different form of resistance prevailed, and in the last uprising (‎‎Palestinian euphemism for several months of Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis 2015 - 2016 -Ed.) it was the operations (i.e., terror attacks) of individuals.' She continued: 'It is our people's right to resist the occupation, and it is the one who determines at every stage what form [of resistance] it prefers.'"
Click "full article" for more information

Headline: “Fatah on the anniversary of Arafat’s [death]: We are going to the conference with a revolutionary and creative vision, which is consistent with the revolution’s achievements”

“The Palestinian National Liberation Movement Fatah said in a statement for the 12th anniversary of the death as a Martyr (Shahid) of the president, the leader, the symbol Yasser Arafat: ‘We are going to the Seventh [Fatah] Conference in order to revive our movement, [which is] the backbone of the PLO and the leader of the national enterprise…
Fatah added in its announcement: ‘We adhere to our people’s right to legitimate resistance, and continue mobilizing and organizing our national ranks, in order to fight the plan to Judaize Jerusalem and its holy sites. [We continue] in resistance in order to fight the crimes of the occupation army, the settlers, and the summary executions… alongside our campaign in the arena of international law.’”

Official PA TV program Inside, about the treatment of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ participation in the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres, hosting political analyst Hani Abu Zaid
Political analyst Hani Abi Zaid is asked about the criticism against PA Chairman Abbas for participating in the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres.Political analyst Hani Abi Zaid: “However, those criticizing [PA President Mahmoud Abbas for participating in the funeral of former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres] do not know that [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas] made a humane visit that has no political standing, but rather as I noted [was made] to block the path of the ]Israeli] extremist government…
Let me give you an example. We, with our cultural and religious heritage, when [Israeli soldier] Gilad Shalit was taken captive, did we torture him? Did we starve him? Did we treat him harshly? No one has criticized this treatment [of Shalit]. Therefore, this treatment is part of the treatment of prisoners, even though he is a soldier, and possibly also a murderer... Despite this, the humanitarian side to his captivity [is that] he was treated as a prisoner of war. Therefore, in light of the expected results we guarded his life. For this reason we tried as much as possible to gain benefit and [positive] results from this treatment. Therefore, the visit of President Abbas and his participation in the funeral has very great positive ramifications.”

Gilad Shalit was an Israeli soldier who was kidnapped and held hostage by Hamas for more than 5 years. During that time, he was denied visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross and was not allowed communication with his family, in violation of his rights under the Geneva Convention. Click "full article" for more information.

Headline: "Ministry of Information: The Al-Aqsa Intifada is a milestone in our struggle"
"The [PA] Ministry of Information stated in a notice yesterday [Sept. 28, 2016] that the Al-Aqsa Intifada (i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005) is one of the milestones in our national and legal struggle to get rid of the occupation…
The ministry emphasized in the announcement for the 16th anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Intifada that the fact that the popular uprising broke out in order to defend the first direction of prayer (i.e., Jerusalem), the second mosque, and the third 'sanctuary' (i.e., the Al-Aqsa Mosque), proves the depth of our people’s adherence to their Islamic and Christian holy sites, and this is the ongoing daily defense as part of which we stand with [bare] hands against the invasions of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by the extremist gangs under the protection of the army of the occupation and its police…
The ministry in its statement encouraged the national, Arab and foreign media outlets operating in Palestine to mention the anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, and to note the state terror that Israel has perpetrated and still perpetrates against our people, and to bring back the stories of the Martyrs (Shahids), the injured, and the prisoners, who guard the freedom of Palestine with their blood, chains, and suffering."

The PA and its leaders consider all of the Temple Mount an integral part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Therefore they view any presence of Jews on the mount as an "invasion." It should be noted that Jews who visit the Temple Mount only enter some sections of the open areas and do not enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock.

Official PA TV News, on funeral of Palestinian terrorist murderer Yasser Hamdouni who died while in prison

Fatah Central Committee member Azzam Al-Ahmad: “This crime really drives us to continue pursuing the occupation by all the ways and means at our disposal, whether by direct confrontation with the thieving occupation, or indirect confrontation [with Israel] through the various relevant international institutions. We will not stop and will not be silent until the occupation comes completely to an end, as its crimes will only be eliminated by getting rid of it.”

Yasser Dhiab Hamdouni was serving a life sentence for participating in the murder of Israeli citizen Avner Maimon in the Palestinian town of Ya'abad in the West Bank (June, 12, 2003). Hamdouni, a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (Fatah’s military wing), died on Sept. 25, 2016, after collapsing while exercising in the Israeli Rimon Prison yard.

The terms "all means," "peaceful uprising,” and “popular uprising" are ‎often used by PA leaders to refer to events that include violence and deadly terror ‎against Israeli civilians such as rock-throwing, stabbings and even shootings. See ‎Mahmoud Abbas' reference to murderous terror as "peaceful" during the 2015-2016 ‎terror wave (“The Knife Intifada”), which included numerous stabbings, shootings and car ramming attacks in which 40 people were killed (36 Israelis, 1 Palestinian, 2 Americans and 1 Eritrean) and hundreds wounded: http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=16437

Official PA TV program Holiday Morning, hosting poet Abdallah Qishta
Poet Abdallah Qishta begins to recite the poem "A Homeland That is Tired of Waiting"Poet Abdallah Qishta:"Oh my enemy, others are brighter than you…
You are a Nazi, do not lie and do not call for peace
The chaos of your corruption is running rampant in Muslim countries
Your ebb and flow have come to an end, the illusion has reached its end and dissipated
Your time has come, accursed is your grandfather who brought us the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration)
[Even if] a period passes, we will not forget and our veins will be renewed
Your fate is shame and disgrace, regardless of what will come to pass.
Tomorrow we will liberate our land and we will lay the cornerstone,
Sometimes with weapons, and sometimes with politics.
The soil always calls to us: 'Come with [your] head held high,
Wear the crown of glory, and break the head of the evil one’
Its [the soil’s] knife will express our rage and will not allow the Al-Aqsa Mosque to be harmed…"Official PA TV host: "We do not deny that the poem is wonderful and the style is very unique, especially as there is an attractiveness to the Nabataean or Bedouin poem, as some know it ."

The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that “His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” and is seen as the basis for later international commitments to establish the State of Israel.

Official PA TV program To PalestineFatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi: “There are 30 methods of struggle, starting with demonstration and ending with the most extreme, armed struggle, and what is between them. Every one of these methods has its own factors, its own political conditions, it has a geographical situation. After all, currently you can demonstrate, but can you come and tell me: ‘Now I want to do an armed struggle’? How? You need geographical depth, logistical capabilities, material capabilities, etc. This matter requires of you preparation for every stage separately. There is a stage that has ended, and a stage that we have moved on to. However, have you abandoned any of the methods of the struggle? I say to you that the Fatah Movement has not abandoned any of the methods of the struggle, but rather it chooses the appropriate time and the appropriate path for choosing the appropriate method of the struggle.”

Headline: “Tel Aviv operation (i.e., terror attack, 4 murdered) – between the sanctification of the weapon and its definition as a crime”Op-ed by senior Palestinian political analyst and columnist Hani Al-Masri “If the main method of activity is appropriate for a certain period, that doesn’t mean that it is necessary to negate, reject, or condemn other types. On the contrary, the experience of struggle throughout history, including the Palestinian experience and the experience of India, South Africa and others, has proven that it is possible to integrate peaceful and armed methods of struggle, whether the method of the struggle at one stage or another is peaceful or armed, and no one side can alone determine the appropriate method of struggle. The nature of the conflict, its unique characteristics, the circumstances, the factors influencing it, and the conduct of the other side are what actively contribute to determining the method that will be adopted...
Armed resistance must always be present, as it is an anchored right, and it must be carried out in accordance with the circumstances, and must not be altogether uprooted, nor defined as a crime under any circumstances...
We cannot help but examine the matter of harming civilians in Israel. Since it is a colonial, settler, racist, occupying entity, all of those in it are soldiers, and the proof of this is that weapons are common in all the different regions, and hundreds of thousands of civilians carry them on the streets. All of them, other than the ultra-orthodox Jews, serve in the army. However, most of the ultra-orthodox Jews, like all the rest, are radicals who incite the murder of non-Jews. Therefore, the resistance operations must be calculated and not random, and not be directed at children and public places."

Headline: "Watch the full interview: Al-Damiri speaks about security coordination, Hamas, ISIS, thwarting the operations, the government, the resistance, and the Gaza Strip"

"[Official Spokesman of the PA Security Forces] Adnan Al-Damiri spoke in an exclusive interview with Donia Al-Watan (i.e., an independent Palestinian news agency) about many topics, including the security forces, the possibility of uniting them in the West Bank and Gaza, the reconciliation [between Fatah and Hamas], Gaza's electricity, and the other important topics…

He noted that the PA workers in the Gaza Strip who stopped working are still not working and have not been asked to return to work 'in order not to endanger their lives as we do not know what level of oppression is being implemented by Hamas.'
…
Likewise, Al-Damiri noted that the government transfers 80 million shekels a month to the Gaza Strip for electricity and 240 million shekels a month for salaries and services, despite Hamas’ opposition to the government or the PA having a role in the administration of Gaza…

The security forces in the West Bank are accused of preventing Palestinian resistance operations (i.e., terror attacks) in the West Bank and persecuting those who carry them out; however, since the popular uprising (reference to wave of Palestinian terror attacks, October 2015 - March 2016), it [the West Bank] has been witness to a series of individual and group operations against the Israeli occupation.

Adnan Al-Damiri emphasized that the Palestinian security forces have not prevented anyone from carrying out these operations, and the proof is the occurrence of dozens of them recently, according to him.

He added to Donia Al-Watan: 'We are not talking about the thwarting of operations (i.e., attacks) within Israel, but rather we are talking about our children being throw

Official PA TV program The State of Politics, on the need to escalate the popular uprising until it becomes Intifada
Fatah Central Committee Member Jamal Muhaisen is asked about Palestinian activity required to support future efforts.Fatah Central Committee Member Jamal Muhaisen: “I repeat: The popular uprising which has let up at the moment, it would be better if it had not let up, and that it would escalate so it would reach the stage of Intifada, as the activity in the field, the popular resistance in the field, supports the Palestinian leadership in its activities and therefore it yields achievements for the Palestinian people. The first Intifada (i.e., Palestinian wave of violence and terror against Israel, 1987-1993) yielded achievements, and the popular uprising also played a role in supporting the political effort being led by the leadership.”Official PA TV host: "To what reasons can we attribute it, in other words the letting up [of the popular uprising]?"Jamal Muhaisen: “The factions definitely are responsible. The Palestinian factions, and all their components, are responsible.”Official PA TV host: “This contradicts what you are calling for, to escalate the popular uprising to resist the occupation and continue it (i.e., the popular uprising).”Jamal Muhaisen: “Some would exaggerate and say to you that this is intifada. When we would say it is a popular uprising, they would criticize us and say it is a popular uprising (sic. Intifada). We hoped to reach the stage of Intifada. Therefore I repeat, if we want to do something to support the activity taking place in the international arena, then there must be an escalating popular resistance in the field to support the political activity of the leadership and to convey a message to the international community.”

The terms “resistance in its various forms” and “all means” are ‎often used by PA leaders to refer to events that include violence and deadly terror ‎against Israeli civilians such as rock-throwing, stabbings and even shootings.
“Fatah Movement prisoners in the desert Ketziot Prison (i.e., southwest of Beer Sheva) marked the 68th anniversary of the Nakba (“the catastrophe,” the Palestinian term for the establishment of the State of Israel) yesterday [May 13, 2016] and the day before, with several activities within the detention camp’s wings and cells. The prisoner Hani Ghannam, leader of the Fatah prisoners in Ketziot, noted that the movement has organized conferences to increase awareness, and cultural competitions and sport contests …
Ghannam noted that the Fatah Movement issued a central statement within the Israeli prisons, in which it emphasized that the resistance in its various forms is a legitimate right, and will remain an option until the achievement of our legitimate national principles, primarily the right of return, self-determination, and the establishment of our independent state.”

Official PA TV program To Palestine, hosting Secretary-General of the Palestinian Arab Front and PLO Executive Committee member Jamil ShehadehJamil Shehadeh: “The message needs to be clear to the occupation: The Palestinian people is determined to continue the struggle in all its forms until the establishment of a state. This is the decision of the Palestinian people. At the moment, our young people have chosen popular uprising, peaceful popular resistance, as [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas has declared, and everyone is listening to him. (“peaceful popular resistance” refers to wave of Palestinian terror attacks, see below –Ed.) This does not mean that other options have been removed from the Palestinian people’s range of possibilities.”

Palestinian terror wave (2015-2016) – Several months of Palestinian violence and terror attacks against Israelis, ‎including stabbings, shootings, throwing rocks and molotov cocktails, and car rammings. The wave was at its height from October 2015 through March 2016, but one man was killed in September 2015 and sporadic attacks continued after March 2016, including a bus bombing in Jerusalem on April 19, 2016.

Headline: “Dr. Amal Hamad – Our prisoners will remain a true symbol in the battle of resolve and challenge”
“In her speech, Fatah Central committee member Dr. Amal Hamad saluted the members of the great Fatah and the male and female prisoners in the occupation’s prisons, the heroes of freedom, honor, giving, and sacrifice, and symbols of pride, honor, and freedom. She said: ‘Today [April 13, 2016] we convey a message of loyalty and appreciation to our prisoners in the occupation’s prisons, and to their families and relatives. Today we are not honoring the prisoners, but rather the cause and the identity; we are honoring the [sense of] belonging to the homeland and the homeland’s message... She emphasized that Fatah keeps the rifle and Palestinian Fatah honorable and pure weapon from the occupier, and the administration of the popular resistance in all its forms, the administration of the political and diplomatic struggle on the international level, and the achievement of a state and the sympathy and support of the international community. Likewise, she emphasized that they have not renounced any type of resistance, but rather combine them, and the priorities are determined according to the situation and changes of the period, but the Palestinian compass still [points] clearly – the compass is a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”